Civics surge to the top

VICTOR Helu’s lone goal for Civics was enough to post his side to the summit of the MTC Namibia premiership log when they beat a fireless Orlando Pirates at the Sam Nujoma Stadium on Friday night.

The defending champions are sharing 10 points with Black Africa (in second spot) who came away with a draw 0-all draw against Ramblers on Saturday. Civics were in sixth spot ahead of the Friday encounter and the win has given Helmuth Sharnowski’s side the necessary boost to remain in that spot as long as they can.In Saturday’s matches, rookies Fedics recorded a surprise 2-1 win over Eleven Arrows at the J.Stephanus Stadium in Keetmanshoop, a win that should give them the confidence to do well in their next encounters, which will be rather tough.Oshakati City had to be satisfied with a 2-all draw against Blue Waters at the Oscar Norich Stadium in Tsumeb, while SKW were held to a 0-all draw by Mighty Gunners at the SKW Stadium in Windhoek.The highly anticipated Civics/Pirates encounter did not deliver a lot of great moments, but the focus was on the defences of both teams who prepared themselves to keep it clean at the back.The support from the lively Pirates crowd was also not enough to spur their team on to a win, as Civics had managed to contain them well in all departments.Ramblers and Black Africa played in a fast-paced and controversial match at the Sam Nujoma Stadium Both benches were unhappy with the referee for not protecting their players against hard tackles.Ramblers had an appeal for a penalty turned down after Michael Pienaar was brought down in the box, while Pienaar himself, brought Lolo Goraseb down with a crunching tackle that went unpunished.For BA, Goraseb was back to his best and at the centre of most of their attacks, while Gella Kandjimi, Duncan Subeb, Tjono Jagger and Bryan Bantam all had good games.Raymond Awaseb and Bernadine Mbilizi were Ramblers’ best players, but Samson John and Pinias Jacob were a bit subdued in attack.Meanwhile, Luqman Cloete reports from Keetmanshoop that Fedics striker Owen Vlees opened the scoreline in the 23rd minute after he tapped in a cross from winger Shaku Mckay.Arrows equalised the scoreboard in the 30th minute through Charlie Oaseb after he was set up by Rudolf Bester.Bester had the Fedics defence on their toes with his brilliant dribbling and ball control skills, but defender Wikus Pieters did not give him much room.In the second half, Fedics central midfielder Bruno Hendriks extended the lead to make it 2-1.But Fedics wasted two golden opportunities to further extend their lead when Clarence Andries failed to find the net twice in a one-on-one contest with the Arrows goalie.Fedics coach Wolfgang Cloete said the draw against Blue Waters two weeks ago was just a starting point.”We’ re now out of our starting blocks, therefore running over Fedics is something of the past now,” he said.Cloete said the team will build on the win over Arrows and promised the supporters that Fedics will stay in the top flight next season.”We can’t afford to be relegated, because it will took us 20 years to return to the top flight,” he added.Fedics were promoted to the premiership alongside Mighty Gunners this season.Arrows coach Lucky Shipanga said Fedics needed recognition after their great performance.”I accept the defeat,” Shipanga said.He said his team had a lot of chances to score but players failed to capitalise.Additional reporting by Namibia SportCivics were in sixth spot ahead of the Friday encounter and the win has given Helmuth Sharnowski’s side the necessary boost to remain in that spot as long as they can.In Saturday’s matches, rookies Fedics recorded a surprise 2-1 win over Eleven Arrows at the J.Stephanus Stadium in Keetmanshoop, a win that should give them the confidence to do well in their next encounters, which will be rather tough.Oshakati City had to be satisfied with a 2-all draw against Blue Waters at the Oscar Norich Stadium in Tsumeb, while SKW were held to a 0-all draw by Mighty Gunners at the SKW Stadium in Windhoek.The highly anticipated Civics/Pirates encounter did not deliver a lot of great moments, but the focus was on the defences of both teams who prepared themselves to keep it clean at the back.The support from the lively Pirates crowd was also not enough to spur their team on to a win, as Civics had managed to contain them well in all departments.Ramblers and Black Africa played in a fast-paced and controversial match at the Sam Nujoma Stadium Both benches were unhappy with the referee for not protecting their players against hard tackles.Ramblers had an appeal for a penalty turned down after Michael Pienaar was brought down in the box, while Pienaar himself, brought Lolo Goraseb down with a crunching tackle that went unpunished.For BA, Goraseb was back to his best and at the centre of most of their attacks, while Gella Kandjimi, Duncan Subeb, Tjono Jagger and Bryan Bantam all had good games.Raymond Awaseb and Bernadine Mbilizi were Ramblers’ best players, but Samson John and Pinias Jacob were a bit subdued in attack.Meanwhile, Luqman Cloete reports from Keetmanshoop that Fedics striker Owen Vlees opened the scoreline in the 23rd minute after he tapped in a cross from winger Shaku Mckay.Arrows equalised the scoreboard in the 30th minute through Charlie Oaseb after he was set up by Rudolf Bester.Bester had the Fedics defence on their toes with his brilliant dribbling and ball control skills, but defender Wikus Pieters did not give him much room.In the second half, Fedics central midfielder Bruno Hendriks extended the lead to make it 2-1.But Fedics wasted two golden opportunities to further extend their lead when Clarence Andries failed to find the net twice in a one-on-one contest with the Arrows goalie.Fedics coach Wolfgang Cloete said the draw against Blue Waters two weeks ago was just a starting point.”We’ re now out of our starting blocks, therefore running over Fedics is something of the past now,” he said.Cloete said the team will build on the win over Arrows and promised the supporters that Fedics will stay in the top flight next season.”We can’t afford to be relegated, because it will took us 20 years to return to the top flight,” he added.Fedics were promoted to the premiership alongside Mighty Gunners this season.Arrows coach Lucky Shipanga said Fedics needed recognition after their great performance.”I accept the defeat,” Shipanga said.He said his team had a lot of chances to score but players failed to capitalise.Additional reporting by Namibia Sport